4231 - Derek Prince - The Fullness Of The Cross - Deliverance From Self Centeredness

this is number 4 2 1 3 Derek print speaks on the subject the fullness of the Cross this message is entitled deliverance from self-centeredness part 1 we're going to have to cover briefly the ground that we were covering in the previous sessions in order to get a good run at today's teaching I've been explaining to you that through the cross God made a total provision for every need of every believer in time and eternity spiritual emotional mental physical material financial or whatever else all our needs were provided for by the one all sufficient to complete sacrifice of Jesus on the cross by one sacrifice he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified as far as God and his sacrifice are concerned that's complete forever but there's a process of being sanctified in us that's an ongoing process by which we appropriate more and more of what was made available to us through the cross I also pointed out that through the cross God administered to Satan a total eternal irreversible defeat he not merely defeated him he disarmed him he stripped him of his weapons and then we went on to see that Satan's counter-attack is too obscure for the church what was accomplished through the cross including obscuring the fact that Satan and his kingdom were defeated and so in Galatians 3 1 we have this key Scripture foolish Galatians who has bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified and as we follow the outworking of that we see that witchcraft having obscured the work of the cross then proceeded to divert people God's people from the truth into back into legalism and carnality and it's very important to remember that these two go together legalism is the expression of carnality it sounds very religious it can appear very holy but it is actually the expression of carnality and both legalism and carnality always result in the church where the work of the cross has been obscured and then we pointed out that the force that Satan used to obscure the work of the cross Paul describes as witchcraft I don't think we're going to go into an analysis of witchcraft again this morning but I want to continue now with God's provision for us to be protected from witchcraft and we began to look at that in our previous sessions we'll continue this morning from that point in your outline it is page 4 and somewhere near the top of the page page you'll see the heading God's protection against witchcraft and then I go on Galatians reveals of fivefold deliverance and I believe this is the only protection against witchcraft against Satan's snares and deceptions and manipulations either we avail ourselves of this protection provided by God through the cross or we come under the deception and the manipulation of Satan there's no third alternative either we accept and apply what was accomplished for us through the cross or we in some measure come under the deception and the control of Satan you see there isn't anything else there are two kingdoms the kingdom of God the kingdom of Satan there's not a third kingdom that's not a third area through the cross Paul tells us we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness translated into the kingdom of God's Son well we have to be in one or other kingdom there isn't any other place to be so one of the great problems with a lot of religious teaching and thinking is somehow there's a third category well I'm not in the kingdom of Satan I'm not in the kingdom of God but I'm somewhere else there is nowhere else to be Jesus explained it in a personal relation to himself when he said he that is not with me is one against me there's nothing in between he that doesn't gather with me is scattering your honor with him or against him you're either gathering positively or scattering your in one or other category what are you scattering if you are scattering your scattering all the things that God has committed to you your time your talents your energy your finance many many other things you've either using them positively for the kingdom of God or you're wasting them there's no other option going back to Galatians now I've pointed out the first great deliverance it stated in Galatians 1:4 where it says well we might as well turn to it and read it Galatians chapter 1 you'll need to keep a finger in Galatians for the present period we'll go to other places but we'll keep turning back to Galatians God has been dealing with me over the past two years about Galatians I just never been able to get away from it for any length of time as many of you know we spend a good deal of our in Israel and I tell you that in Israel dealing with Jewish believers Galatians is really the critical it's evil the flesh the law on one ham Grace Liberty on the other all right Galatians 1:4 it says Christ gave himself for our sins gave himself on the cross gave himself up offered himself that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father so that's the first deliverance and all the other deliverances that we'll deal with already aspects of this first deliverance we've already looked at this but let's just review it quickly why do we need to be delivered from this present evil age well first of all because it's an evil age why is it an evil age because Satan is the god of this present age and anything that Satan is God on is going to be evil now in God and his wisdom has not decided to remove Satan from being god of this age as long as this age continues Satan will be it's gone when this age comes to an end Satan will no longer be a god that's why he strives with all his might to perpetuate the present age but once this age is over he will no longer be a god but God has not set Satan aside at this time his remedy is to deliver us from this present evil age I wonder whether many of you have ever been given much consideration to that statement I have to admit for years I just read it and passed it by but God's purpose through the cross is to deliver us from this present evil age do you believe that you've been delivered do you live like somebody who's been delivered from the present evil age let's just look at some of the statements there and we move on quickly the present age is coming to a close that's tremendously important it's not going to continue forever live as if it were don't think as if it were because you're out of line with reality second as I've said God Satan is that god of this present age also through salvation and through the baptism in the Holy Spirit we have tasted the powers of the age to come and God's purpose was to give us such an appetite for the powers of the age to come that we were no longer be tempted but the kind of power that this age offers then we saw that this age causes worries that make believers unfruitful if ever there was a statement that applies to the contemporary church in the Western world that is it then we saw that believers are not to be conformed to this present age we're not to think like them were not to live like them we are to be different and then we saw with regard to Dimas that a faithful servant of Christ cannot love the present age you cannot love God and the present age they're incompatible the results of that deliverance very quickly our citizenship is in heaven and this is determined by acceptance or rejection of the cross where Paul says in Philippians 3 our citizenship is in heaven he speaks first about those who are professing believers but who are the enemies of the cross of Christ they're prepared to accept Christ but not his cross and he says some terrible things about them he says whose God is their belly whose end is destruction who glory in their shame the only deliverance from that is the acceptance of the cross in our lives then the second result of that deliverances we realize we have no continuing City here this is not where we live I was teaching some of you were present in the local church here and I pointed out that the day of God's wrath and judgment according to Luke chapter 21 is coming on all who dwell on the face of the earth oh so if we dwell on the face of the earth it's coming on us we need to ask ourselves what is our residential address where is our citizenship are we looking for a city to come and then very closely related to that is the eager expectation of Christ's return the writer of Hebrews says in Chapter 9 verse 28 for those who eagerly wait for him he will return with salvation now we continued with the remaining four deliverances and we looked at the next one which is about the middle of your page for deliverance from the law we could just read that verse there I know this is all review but I believe it's important to get us in line for what's coming Galatians 2:19 Paul says for I through the law died to the law that I might live to God the law put me to death that's the kindest thing it ever did to me because I escaped from the law through death the grace and mercy of God was I escaped through the death of Jesus Christ but I am out of the realm in which the law applies now we have dealt with this earlier so we're not going to deal with it in detail the results of deliverance from the law first of all freedom from condemnation Romans 8:1 there is therefore now no condemnation that therefore follows immediately on chapter 7 and the whole theme of chapter 7 is the believers relationship to the law and once we have realized that then we can say there is therefore now no condemnation as long as you are seeking to achieve righteousness by keeping a law you will always be vulnerable to condemnation you have to escape from the law to escape from condemnation the second result of this deliverance is freedom to be led by the Holy Spirit Paul says in Romans 8:14 as many as are regularly led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God to become a mature son or daughter of God you have to be regularly led by the Holy Spirit the tense there is a continuing present tense as many as are being regularly led by the Holy Spirit they are the sons of God I've preached many times to Pentecostal and charismatic groups who know all about being born again and been baptized in the spirit and I've said to them often how many times how many of you have ever heard one message on how to be led by the Holy Spirit and usually less than 10% will respond positively so we keep talking about being born again which makes us infants and we never deal with the issue of growing to maturity which comes only through being led by the Holy Spirit see deliverance from the law is essential to achieving maturity because maturity comes only by being led by the Holy Spirit and with you're under the law you are not led by the Holy Spirit let's look in galatians 5:18 I realize for some of you this is new and perhaps a little controversial well the Bible is a controversial book if you have never been shocked by the Bible you have never really heard what it sends galatians 5:18 but if you are regularly led by the spirit you are not under the law it's either/or once again there's no third category so if you want to achieve maturity the only ways to be regularly led by the Holy Spirit if you want to be regularly led by the Holy Spirit you are not under the law if you are under the law you are not being led by the Holy Spirit it's a very very important application of this truth now I added to your outline a number of scriptures because I know from experience that if you simply tell people you're not under the law you leave them wondering well am I free to do anything commit murder or steal or what and so I dealt with that passage in Romans chapter 8 which you've heard me quote whenever my voice is checked what the law could not do in there was a weak through the flesh God did sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the law that the righteousness or the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us so the law is dealt with that the righteous requirement of the law might be worked out in us now I told you that the righteous requirement of the law can be expressed in one short word which is thank you that's good I don't I won't go through those scriptures again except to quote the one I really enjoy which is first Timothy chapter 1 verse 5 in the NASB now the goal of our instruction is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith those are the three conditions for maintaining love pure heart a good conscience and sincere faith and then it goes on from which some having swerved to turn the side to fruitless discussions the alternative is fruitlessness alright now we're going to break new ground we're going on to the third aspect of deliverance which is very closely connected with the second and we go back in Galatians 2 chapter 2 and verse 20 oh I feel prompted to say that some of you found this a little bit difficult it's an area which some of you have being confronted with that's an amazing thing because if you go through the New Testament and consider all the passages which deal with the relationship between law and grace and loan the spirit they are many basically it's the theme of Galatians much of Romans is devoted to it it's find its place in Hebrews and in various other places it's simply an amazing fact that this vital issue has been so neglected in the church what's the reason witchcraft that's right thank you the eyes of the church have been blinded to miss out this is seneschal fundamental truth all right let's go to galatians 2:20 and you see unless unless you're released from witchcraft your eyes won't be able to see in you've got to make a real determine effort to throw off something that has kind of put a veil in front of your eyes we have a very dear precious sister very close to us in our local church I won't give her name but God speaks to her frequently by visions and they're very vivid and scriptural visions and she was sharing just with Ruth and me personally not with the whole church that she recently was praying at night and she had a vision of Jesus on his way to the cross and she said it was so real I could hear things I could smell the smells it was absolutely like I was there and she said I wanted to press through and help him but she said there was something like a sheet of plastic that was between Jesus and the cross and me and I couldn't get through it and she really hadn't heard my teaching but you see that's exactly what witchcraft is it's a kind of plastic film that has been placed between the church and Jesus and the cross all right Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me that's one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible and I think I am being crucified with Christ do you remember what Romans 6:6 said our old man was crucified with him that's a general statement but each one of us has to make it personal it's our confession you understand that by which we appropriate that the general truth so our old man was crucified with him there's the general truth I have been crucified with Christ is my personal application of that truth in my life then Paul being very logical and very Jewish says well if I'm crucified how do I go on living I think much of Paul's teaching is based on anticipated objections of unbelieving Jews I mean it's it's comical when you go through it because it's so typically Jewish see that's that's the way and the Jews still think it's what I call Talmudic you know what the Talmud is well if you don't know don't worry but I mean you've not missed much but this is the the mentality of the Jewish people and it's something that really was produced in them by God you see it's no accident that probably there are more Jewish lawyers than any other group there their whole mind is trained that way and so Paul continually makes statements imagines the objection and on systems sometimes it doesn't indicate the objection that is action so I've been crucified with Christ well if you're crucified how do you live well it's not I who live any longer but it's Christ who lives in me and notice the next phrase the life I now live in the flesh not in the next world but here in this present life in my present situations and circumstances I live by the faith the Greek says of the Son of God most modern translations say in the son of God but really I prefer to stick to all not merely does Christ live in me but his faith lives in me when he comes in he comes with his faith I'm not living by my own sake I'm living by the faith of the Son of God and then we come back again to the cross who loved me and gave himself on the cross for me tremendous statement so what is the deliverance there its deliverance from i from the ego from the self deliverance from we can call it self-centeredness see I personally think that dealing with people such as you and I are you know the cream of the crop like that like us people that are really wanting to do God's will and I mean I'm serious in a way because I believe we do I think perhaps this could be the greatest single hindrance to God's purposes being worked out in the church its self-centeredness I really love the American people I love American Christians I owe so much to them I'll never be able to calculate my debt but I'll tell you they have a problem it's they think the world begins and ends with the United States now population was the United States is 7 percent of the world if you calculate the number of preachers of the gospel available in this country it's approximately 1 to every 287 persons in the rest of the world it's 1 to about 400,000 it's totally out of proportion and one of the things agrees me is that so many gifted men of God are competing for the American market I mean you know if one pastor is answers three that one displays the next if there's a space on the television there's three television preachers that want the space it's really tragic because in the rest of the world there's just nobody that once the space at all and there are a lot of spaces that are just not filled I tell you it is rewarding to go to places where people haven't heard and where they don't have the gospel coming to them by every means daily Ruth and I were in a really excellent charismatic convention recently and we went into the quote book room well I mean it was as big as this Pavillion were in and there was a book about every conceivable subject you could ever think about and some you'd never think about and they were beautifully bound and beautifully had beautiful covers and tremendous amount of skill had been expounded in the artwork and Ruth and I walked out of there inwardly weeping I mean those Christians just were amused by the choice that was offered to them and outside of this country most people have no choice at all to take the great nation of France less than 25% of Frenchmen have ever seen a Bible in their life it is one of the most totally barren places on earth outside the Muslim world I think France and the french-speaking world is probably the most balanced want to take a trip to France in turn i mean why why compete with all our in the competition in this country is tremendously on a high level too I mean you've got all sorts of tremendous preachers to compete with you down somewhere where they don't know there are such creatures and they'll think you're terrific and you will be terrific dude I'll tell you that you know what I've discovered about miracles it isn't the man who has all the power it's the right person in the right place at the right time that's right you get to some places you can't help having miracles there's no solution I'll tell you the best situation for a miracle is the worst one when everything is against you then gone has to come out on your science in Pakistan Ruth and I and our people that were with us we witnessed miracles such as I've never seen in America I mean the one that were always staying my mind is a woman of about 60 born blind who receive complete sight nothing dramatic I sent to Ruth I said I didn't feel the anointing burned in these meetings once it was hot it was dusting the people were difficult to control it was hard work but we were where God wanted us where the need was I was drafted into the British Army in 1940 the year after Dunkirk which you've probably heard about least I was serving with another corporal in the Sudan Laden who Bendre who joined him volunteered in 1939 so he he was one year longer than I was in the army and we were good friends but he always used to say to me he said I joined when they were needing them not when they were feeding them and I think about so many Christians did you join when they were needing them or when they were feeding them let's consider some of thee what should I say manifestations of self-centeredness I'll tell you a picture that God's given me I I can never remember in history who was the man who said that the earth that the Sun revolved around the earth and the earth revolved around the Sun I did quote it once and I got it wrong somebody kindly corrected me afterwards but you know the component this was one of the ones that said something I know but which she said I don't know I know Galileo believed that the Sun revolved around the the earth to revolve around the Sun and they were going to put him to death to that you know typically enough the church it's going to he had to recant isn't that typical I'm not talking attacking about any particular judge but you know anything new upsets the church well we've never done it this way before why should we do it now my father did it that way my grandfather did it that way question is what did they accomplish anyhow self-centeredness it's like the period in human history when people really believed the Sun revolved around the earth Jesus Christ is the son he revolves around me he exists to meet my needs when I'm in trouble I pray he hears my prayers I get what I need isn't that wonderful no it's totally out of proportion Jesus doesn't exist for your benefit you exist for his benefit for his glory for his service for his purposes you've got to go through a mental revolution and realize you're revolving around him not he around you let's look at some of the products of our self-centeredness the products of not accepting that I have been crucified and I've listed some there by no means complete pride personally I think the greatest single problem and danger for Christians is pride and particularly for those in the ministry and I'm not excluding myself this past year we had a sovereign visitation of God in our local church we didn't deserve it we had no claims upon it I can't really understand why God did it but it happened that we appointed a 21-day peered for a general fast and we it was arranged that we would meet in the church every morning from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. to seek God as a matter of fact it was the very lady that I told you about who had the vision of Jesus who proposed it she wrote to the elders and suggested it and the elders got together and basically we felt that we didn't have the nerve to turn it down I don't know that we were very enthusiastic and now Ruth and I happened to be away when it started when it started with a typical charismatic sindelle the first morning there were 15 people the next morning there were seven and the next morning there were four but then a brother in the church came under such a burden of intercession that he wept without ceasing for 24 hours and something happened and the next morning there were about 50 people by the end of the week there were 250 people meaning the membership that church is only about 500 and we had a program that had been outlined what we were going to pray for each day the holy spirit wasn't the least bit impressed by our program he didn't pay any attention to it whatever we never got to it the period went on from three weeks to about six weeks altogether Ruth and I got back after being going about four days now I don't really particularly enjoy getting up very early in the morning but I said the Ruth God is in this thing I don't want to miss him and it was really just as if Jesus said I'm going to be in that building between 5:00 and 7:00 a.m. if you want to meet me you better be there well I don't want to turn down an invitation like that so we were there five out of every seven days in the week at least why I say this is because for prompts the first two weeks the main emphasis of the Holy Spirit was on repentance and no one was omitted and although there were certain sins that people repented of like alcoholism and immorality and so on basically the thing that we all repented on was arrogance and we often spent at least half the two hours on our faces on the floor and for sometimes as much as one hour nobody was praying out loud at all it was totally different from the Everage premiering and i think i could say that we recognized we had been exceedingly arrogant in our attitude toward Jesus and the Holy Spirit it is like we treated Jesus as our Butler and the Holy Spirit is a rubber stamp but to allow them actually to have preeminence to direct to initiate that was very rare and I would say that we were bummed the level of the average charismatic church I'm not saying we were tremendous but I think we were considerably above the average and that gave me a totally new picture of what arrogance is by nature man is arrogant john calls it the pride of life hi I'm important I want this I want that God please our lives center around our little cells they're not centered around the Lord do you go to the list you'll see Eggert ISM and personal ambition I would say those are the big problems of preachers me and my ministry my church my movement and I don't I never want to be negative but I would have to say it generates ruthlessness the church becomes a kind of rat race in which devil take the hindmost if you don't get on you'll get trampled on it would be a very searching question for us as ministers to ask ourselves what am I really motivated by is it a real desire to do the will of God and extend the kingdom of God and see Jesus glorified or is it personal ambition now that's probably in the area mainly of people in the ministry but then we come down to sectarianism and that's the ego in people my group my denomination my church we're right you see it's very closely connected with legalism because if you believe you're made righteous by keeping your rules then the only people are really righteous are the ones who keep your rules so any group that keeps a different set of rules I mean how can you fellowship with legalism and carnality divides the church it's the great source of division in gallais in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 Paul says to the Corinthians there I hear there are divisions among you etc a lot of modern commentators say they were divided because they spoke in tongues that's not the truth at least it's not what Paul says he says if one says I'm of Paul another I'm Apollo's another i am of keypads another I am of Christ are you not all carnal what's that the expression of carnality the flesh the ego nationalism is a very potent force in the Christian Church we could look at Germany during the 1930s there were many born-again Christians during that period but for most of them not all of them by any means most of them they were Germans first and Christians second and some of the great tragedies of history came about because of them I'm British by background and if you don't know the British you just don't know how pride that proudly oh I'll tell you the difference between Americans and British I make no charge for this the Americans will tell you how good they are but the British expect you to know without being told which this is it which is the greater level of pride it's taken years for God to purge some of that British arrogance out of me and I'm not saying that he's succeeded totally but I tell you I was brought up to be arrogant I was educated at Britain's number one school Eton that puts you in a different category from anybody else you can't understand that in America but if you were at Eton and especially a scholar I was a scholarly you were in a different category from anybody else in the nation then I went to Cambridge I was the senior scholar of King's College Cambridge which is one of the leading colleges of Cambridge became a fellow at the age of 24 believe me everything that happened in my life after the time I got saved was calculated to breed arrogance in me well Don had a lot of different ways of dealing with it I spent five Mohave years in the British Army and never rose above the rank of Corporal now it was all the rest for me because all my male ancestors that I've ever known have been officers in the British Army my father was a colonel my uncle was a brigadier my grandfather was a general you know when I discovered I mean I was used to mixing with those people I learned something that's been very important to me ever since people look very different when you see them from underneath than they do when you see them on the same level I learnt a lot of things about the kind of people that I had accepted as as model roles well God has his way of dealing with arrogance and brothers and sisters you better let him do it because the Bible says pride goes before one I know you'd say that but it doesn't say it it says pride goes before destruction a haughty spirit before a fall jesus said whosoever will exalt himself will be one abased and whosoever will humble himself will be exalted you've got the I mean you determine whether you're going to go up or down if you want to go up go down I caught my favorite little passage from Bunyan maybe just to relieve the tension a little I'll put it on the on the board he that is down need fear no fall can you see falling in he that is low no pride he that is humble ever shall have God to be his kind that's just stuck with me through the years in other words when you're on the floor you can go no lower I advise people to get on the floor I mean literally before almost any major series of meetings Ruth and I will be on the floor on our faces before God that's a safeguard it's a protection I don't want to be abased see this is a this is a law that governs the universe the two great examples of Jesus and Satan who was Lucifer Lucifer reached up wood and fell Jesus stooped and was exalted and it'll be the same for you and me the way up is down I've done a series of cassettes and then theme the way up is done let's go on the racism it's just another expression of the un-- crucified ego I was a principal of a college for training African teachers in Kenya and we my aim was to breach as many people as possible with the truth so I kind of canvassed for students from all the tribes around them there were seven different tribes that contributed students to our College each one had its own language and so on and I really wanted to think myself into the thinking of these people I discovered the best way to do it was when I was teaching English because I would give them compositions in which they'd have to let me know what they were thinking and you know when I discovered every one of those tribes secretly believed they were better than all the rest that's just part of the old ego well I'm British you know did it for you you're not or I'm American we are the richest nation the most powerful nation and Americans are not really naturally arrogant but you'd have no idea how they impact people when they go abroad you go into a restaurant in Germany or France or Austria and there's a lot of noisy people in one corner you don't need to ask who they are they're Americans they make twice as much noise as anybody else in the restaurant true it's a kind of insensitive miss Americans expect everybody to love them it's a sad moment of disillusionment when they discover that it isn't totally true now I wouldn't call that arrogance but I'd call it Cannella T I'd call it the ego on sensitive to other people well we could go on I'm my first one for Scandinavian Danish I mean I know the Scandinavians well and I really am so grateful but I'll tell you you talk to the Swedes mm-hmm there's nobody else like the Swedes anywhere in the earth and in some ways that's true no I mean I I see the good points I owe so much to the Swedes but I'll tell you it's it's a path that leads downwards the assertion of the ego and it not calculated to make you popular your ego isn't really what people want you may be able to impress them for a little while and you'll be able to give them a certain amount but in the long run you will dry up let's see if we can finish this part of the outline think of the racism that's been in the church in America I mean the scandalous prejudices against blacks to some extent against Jews gangster Hispanics so that's all the expression of the UM crucified ego no III know full well Americans are not the only people bill T of racism but I think it's been particularly fragrant in this country because of the influence of the church let me say I've spent I made many visits to South Africa and I'm always grieved when I hear the way that South Africa is attacked by the media because if Ruth and I are asked what country we enjoy most we usually put South Africa at the top of the list but that doesn't set aside the fact of the terrible problem of apartheid and it's very important to know that the real responsibility for that lies at the door of the church if the church had not taught and tolerated apartheid it could never have had the influence that it does you go to the history of of anti-semitism in Europe which is one of the darkest phases of human history and you can see what the Nazis did in a few years but you have to know they only reap the harvest that the church had been sowing for centuries the real responsibility doesn't lie at the door of Hitler it dies at the door of countless Christians and theologians who system matically inculcated anti-semitism for centuries the terrible responsibility of in the church see there South Africa is just one of many nations where this problem has come to the head actually when David Livingstone first began to try to reach the blacks in their very primitive condition at that time some South African settlers sent people out to kill him because they objected so strongly to his attempting to bring Christianity to the banks I mean we the pages of history are just filled with this kind of prejudice but when you use the word prejudice what you're talking about is the uncrewed see find ego Paul talks about strongholds that are built in the minds of people by Satan and second Corinthians 10 to 10 he says we've got the weapons to cast down those strongholds I ask people what would be the one word that would describe the strongholds in people's minds and I always give my own answer which is prejudice I think prejudice is the greatest single kind of stronghold that Satan builds in the minds of people that keep them from receiving the truth you know the definition of prejudice don't confuse me with the facts my mind is made up and again it's the ego it's I asserting my self my opinions my views my color my race my denomination my favorite preacher the only solution is the cross this is number four to one for direct print speaks on the subject the fullness of the cross this message is entitled deliverance from self-centeredness part two we're dealing with the statement of Paul in Galatians 2:20 probably be good if you had your Bibles open to that passage I think I'll read it again I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God I prefer to say the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me I consider that to be what I would call an explosive verse if you embrace that and begin to receive it's real implications it'll create an internal explosion in you if the church embraces it it'll create an explosion in the church it said dangerous verse if you don't want danger stay away from Galatians 2:20 because it has to be handled with care we've been speaking about some of the manifestations of the un-- crucified ego I'll just review them quickly and then we'll move on pride egotism personal ambition sectarianism nationalism and racism and I state these corrupt many ministries and churches I think we looked at the way in which the church has been corrupted by some of those things like racism nationalism I think perhaps it would be appropriate just to take a little longer to consider the effect of those things in ministries and I I have a ministry which to which my name is attached and everything I say potentially can be and should be applied to me obviously the area of ministries is an extremely important one in many ways it has a decisive influence on the course that the church takes and I want to speak from personal experience and personal observation I think I briefly gave you the example of Abraham and Isaac earlier in this series this is one of the remarkable facts of the Bible God gave to Abraham this miracle son Isaac on whom all the fulfillment of the promises of God depended and he was God's gift to Abraham and yet there came a point when God said to Abraham I want you to offer your son and he was very specific your son Isaac whom you love as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of Moriah and the New Testament indicates especially in the Epistle of James that this was that the climax of the whole walk of of Abraham in faith that he was willing to offer this son up at the last moment the Lord intervened restrained his hand and provided an alternative sacrifice a ram caught by its horns in a thicket and then after Abraham had passed that test God said to him because you've done this in blessing I will bless you that's Hebron ISM them the duplication of the word bless is extremely in our bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your seed that is Isaac the very thing that God had demanded from him and he had been willing to offer back to God when he offered it back to God God said now I can multiply it now I can release my full blessing upon it now my full purposes can be worked out through it and I just want to say then over the years I've come to the conclusion partly out of my personal experience partly out of observing other men and other ministries that every time God gives us an Isaac they'll come a point in our walk with him where he'll ask for Isaac Bank and that is perhaps the most critical point in any ministry a ministry is an Isaac for the man who has it it's God's gift it's supernatural he can't do it by his own efforts and all the purposes of God in a sense depend on that ministry but in his inscrutable wisdom it seems to me invariably at some point God will subject a man and a ministry to that test give it back to me put it on the altar take your hands off it it's true I gave it to you but in the last resort it's not yours it's mine and I am the one who determines what will happen to it and I think the destiny of every ministry is determined by the way in which a man responds to that challenge the person who responds in faith and says God I give it back to you and I think a person who does that feels as Abraham must have felt this is my future this is the most precious thing that God has given me this is the thing that makes me specifically what I am it's my future it's my continuance it's terribly hard to say Lord it's yours not mine I'll get it back to you and whatever happens to it from now on it's your decision not mine I'm not going to fight for it I'm not going to promote it I'm not going to do everything I can to make it successful god it's yours as far as I'm concerned it's dead the man who will do that will experience what Abraham experienced in his own way when the test is complete God will give it back and say now I'm freedom multiply it I can release my blessing through it and I can do in it and through it and for it what you could never do by your own efforts but the other side of the picture is the man who says God this is my ministry you gave it to me and I'm holding on to it I'm in charge my name is on it whatever something happens to that ministry it's hard to describe but I would say it becomes corrupt there's a new stream that's injected into it which is a stream of pride arrogance self-assertiveness self-promotion self ambition and that whole ministry becomes corrupt doesn't mean that it ceases it doesn't mean that it doesn't produce results it'll go on producing fruit but jesus said in matthew 7 17 and 18 a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit and what the fruit that it brings forth will be corrupt i think this is one of the great tragedies that happens in the church i can think of two specific instances which i could name all the persons involved and I will not even contemplate doing that both of them happen to focus in Israel and anything that touches Israel is a special concern to me and in each case I've seen a ministry that had tremendous potential had a special anointing of God upon it there came a point where our leader asserted his personal claims and his personal ambition and the right to keep his name on it and have it imprinted with his stamp and I would have to say according to my interpretation in each case that ministry has become corrupt still goes on still brings forth fruit but it's corrupt fruit see the problem in the church really is not that ministries don't continue the problem is that they do the big problem of the church is ministries and movements and groups that once were anointed once were blessed and once were fruitful have moved out of the line of God's blessing but still continue I think it's a mark of spirituality when people are willing to close something down say alright we've done what God called us to do that's the end we're not going on just for the sake of promoting I would say that basically any more most movements that come into being in the church at the end of 10 years their supreme objective is to keep the institution going regardless of whether it's accomplishing what it came into being to accomplish self perpetuation an almost irresistible law that you can't set aside except by the cross and I would have to say also and this is right in line with Galatians in each of those ministries that I'm talking about the Holy Spirit has been replaced by witchcraft and the dominating forces at work our manipulation intimidation and domination and I mean I if it were appropriate I could give specific examples of each I'm not going to but I just say that because I want to make it very clear that I'm not theorizing now I talked about Israel because it's quite a long way away from most of you but I would think whatever is true in Israel is probably ten times truer in America I think it's perhaps the greatest single tragedy that were confronted with regularly in the church and I say my spirit wheats from Maine we've taken the wrong route the men who've held on to Isaac he's mine my name is on him don't ask for him Bank I'm the only one that controls him so I hope you can see it's something very very real it's not remote I've been exercised about this for perhaps 20 years in my own life what is my ministry bringing forth has it become a corrupt tree and that's not for me to answer no is it really for you to 1.so but I just point out that it's not something that's abstract or theoretical or the replies somewhere else I have to consider its application in my own life but to me as I say this is a problem that I have seen increasing for twenty years at least and one of the great releases from God came to me when I saw that Galatians States the problem and supplies the answer because I had been groping around I don't want to be critical in an etic negative way I don't want to say well this is wrong and that is wrong and that's not working and that's not producing good fruit what I want to know is what's the solution what's the remedy what's the safeguard and the answer I believe is the cross and there is no other and any work or ministry or group that does not submit in due time to the principle of the cross it's going to become corrupted and I'm it's not for me to estimate the proportion of ministries to which that has happened that's not my job but I would say it's not a little I would say it is a common problem it really blesses me to think that Galatians wasn't written as a theological treatise Paul didn't sit down and say I've got to establish six points of doctrine he wrote a letter out of a booming heart and deep concern they probably wrote it in a rather inconvenient place he probably didn't have a good desk it didn't have a library he didn't have a concordance he just wrote but when you analyze the structure of Galatians it's perfect because right in the middle of Galatians three one it states the problem which grunted and preceding that and following that is the answer to that problem the answer is the cross and I would go so far as to be so simple as to say we either submit to the application of the cross in our lives or we become the victims of witchcraft you see I pointed out in the in the natural order witchcraft is the old man reasserting his illegal Dominion it's his way of getting what he wants without submitting to God's Authority and it's always the assertion of the ego the wife wants her way she doesn't want to submit to the authority of her husband so she doesn't flap Rebell she just knows how to manipulate him so he thinks it's when he wants he doesn't even realize it's what she wants I mean let me observe one easy way to manipulate man is through their stomachs and quite a lot of wives regularly use the way they feed their husbands to get what they want out of their husbands furthermore let me say this and this is just by the way but I make no extra charge a lot of wives don't want their husbands to be totally committed to Christ because that would mean they would be totally committed and that they don't want so they have a dozen different ways of frustrating the commitment of their husband to Christ now I thank God that I speak as a person who's been married twice and each of my wives has been totally committed to the Lord and if it were not so I could never have come as far as I've come I could never have overcome all the subtleties and the barriers of a scheming manipulating wife who would use a lot of religious language but she wouldn't want to make the total sacrifice that's demanded by the cross she's got a nice home and beautiful furniture God calls her husband somewhere but she doesn't want the leave she doesn't say we won't go we'll disobey God she just manipulates and blocks every time he's going to step out in faith no again I could put names to what I'm saying I'm not interested in doing so I just want to tell you it's not a theory that's just one of many different examples there's the mother who when a daughter is married doesn't want to release control so she has her finger in that marriage manipulating scheming writing letters making suggestions and often undermining the husband's legitimate authority to get her way but you see what the essence of it is I want my way and I'm going to get it it's not legitimate I can't get it my genomic means so I'll get it by illegitimate and the same it's true in the matter of the ministry I want my way I want to do it my way I want the results I want I want the credit I want I want the glory I can't do it by legitimate means I want to hold on to my authority I don't want to be challenged I don't want to be questioned about the morality or the ethics of what I'm doing I can't do that by legitimate means so I'll use illegitimate and that's how witchcraft comes in witchcraft comes in on the uncross off' ID go and the only protection against witchcraft is the cross you can decide right now do I want to be a victim of witchcraft or do I want to be preserved from it if you want to be preserved from it you have going to have to accept the application of the Cross in your life oh it's so beautiful when you see the cross sets of boundaries of Satan's territory and there is no way he can get beyond it once you have been through the cross and it's done its work in your life you live in territory where Satan just doesn't know where to find you Ruth and I have owned a verse we say together because we travel so much and we're in such sometimes difficult or dangerous places you wouldn't normally apply this verse but it's become very real to us it's in job 27:28 verses 7 and 8 and then verse 21 and I'll say it for you because to me this describes what it means to live beyond the cross there is a path which no fowl knoweth which the vultures I have not seen the Lions whelps have not trod on it nor the fierce lion passed by it seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living and kept close from the fowls of the air and the fowls of the air and the vulture and the lion all represents satanic agents but Jobe says there's a path where Satan's agents can't even get where is that path I'll give you the reference in a minute where is that path beside beyond the cross see that's the only safe place give you the reference it's in the King James Version that's what we've said before the one that Paul used is it 28 or 27 28 isn't it and then 21 mmm-hmm now 21 you might say doesn't fit there but I think it does you see we're talking about an area that's out of the out of this world as understood in the tech in the terminology of of the Bible we have been delivered from this present evil age well I could go on on this theme because to me it's it's one of the critical issues of contemporary Christianity but I think we'll move on and consider the results of deliverance from the ego the results are applying Galatians 2:20 now you'll see it there at the bottom of page 4 I'm going to amplify the little you may need to keep your writing instrument handy because you may need to add a little the first result is freedom from striving from self effort and from self-promotion and oh what a freedom that is oh what a freedom let's look at second Corinthians 4:5 2nd Corinthians 4:5 this is a very remarkable statement Paul is writing to the Corinthian church and he reminds them in his epistles what kind of people they've been pimps prostitutes homosexuals drunkards just about everything that was vile and I'm clean and then remember he was a proud Jewish rabbi he'd been trained to regard all Gentiles as unclean according to the traditions of his nation he wouldn't even eat in a Gentile home and here's this product of the rabbinical schools talking to this the the offscouring of a big port city Corinth was a major port like most port cities it abounded with Vice and he says for we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake now we read servants but the Greek says slaves you need to bear in mind in most of the places in the New Testament where you read the word servant it's really slave now there are other words but the word there is slain picture this proud intellectual highly educated and extremely spiritual rabbi with all his revelation to whom was committed the revelation of the gospel for the Gentiles saying to these people we're not preaching ourselves the one we are preaching is Christ Jesus the Messiah Jesus as Lord what's our place where your slate we're here to serve you we had to do the dirty job the jobs that a freed man wouldn't do what a transformation why was he able to say that because of Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not i but Christ lives in me I tell you and this is very appropriate for many of you who in due course will be going to various nations with the message of the gospel the attitude with which you come is going to make all the difference to your resolve there is two different attitudes I'll write them up briefly there each summed up in a very simple statement the first one is you need what we've got we have it you need it come to us and we'll tell you how to get it how many of you ever heard somebody say to a person baptized in the spirit you think you're superior to other Christians you ever heard that criticism sometimes it's correct see what we have is wonderful but the way we present it sometimes spoils it all the other is can we help you now you really have to have one attitude or the other if the cross has not been applied in your life you'll go there with an attitude of intellectual spiritual religious superiority well we've got the truth we know about speaking in tongues you don't we have the full gospel and the consoles used to say we've got it all I was just to say to them if you've got it all where is it all let's see it but then are the only ones with that attitude by no means the other attitude is is there anything we can do for you can we help you do you need some jobs done now I'm talking to a group and I don't want to name it because of the the tapes that I remember I talking to a group that I basically feel wonderfully exemplifies that attitude the one thing I like about this group is their attitude and I met them in a lot of different places in parts of the world I don't say they all have it but basically that's what I've encountered I've been in a place where I was divided to a European nation the people inviting us just didn't produce they didn't have it organized they didn't have it together what were we going to do you know came to our help youth with a mission so let us help you can we serve you I've never forgotten that it was a lesson to me personally that's what impresses people that's what opens doors and opens hearts listen let me read what Jesus said in mark chapter 10 we read from verse 35 through verse 45 and I think the first part of this is just a wonderful illustration of the un-- crucified ego then James and John the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus saying teacher we want to do you to do for us whatever we ask Jesus was smarter than they thought he said to them what do you want me to do for you they said to him grant us that we may sit one in your right hand and the other on your left in your glory what's that Express ego Jesus said to them you do not know what you ask can you drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with he said there's a price attached you have to drink the same cup that I drank an Gethsemane you have to go through the baptism of death resurrection they said to him we came jesus said to them you will indeed drink the cup that I drink and with the baptism I'm baptized with you will be baptized but to sit on my right hand under my left is not mine to give but it is for those for whom it is prepared that always excites me because God knows already who will be sitting on the right hand on the Left I have to tell you I don't now what was the reaction of the ten the ego when the ten heard it they began to be greatly displeased with James and John why because they thought they ought to be see so there's the ego exposed in all twelve disciples just a little while before Jesus went to the cross and a little further on you read even at the Last Supper they were disputing which would be the greatest but then Jesus applied the less Jesus called them to himself and said to them you know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority take over them yet it shall not be so among you but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant and whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all that's a principle you see that's the same one we talked about before the way up is down that's right and Jesus language is very clear he says whoever desires to be great shall become your servant and it's not the word slaves there but whoever desires to be first shall become your slave the higher up you want to go the lower down you have to stop see the height to which you will ascend is in direct proportion to the depth to which you're willing to go and then he applies it to himself for even the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many in our healing services some of you were present last night I've learned always to tell people and I believe it is true Ruth and I here to serve you whatever we can do for you we will do and we seek to make that good by every means in our thought and I have learned that if I want the anointing of the holy spirit upon it I better take that energy also it opens people's hearts in Luke's Gospel and I can't give you the reference but I was reading it one day in the Hebrew version the Hebrew translation of the New Testament and it said whoever is old among you let him become as the younger I'm not sure that it'll come out that way in English and I was in a situation where I was dealing with a group of men all of whom were at least 10 some 20 years younger than me and they were asking something of me which I thought was unreasonable and unfair but how I praise God that I read that particular version at that particular moment whoever is older among you let him become like the younger and God gave me the grace to let them have their way and I really believe in a way that was a major turning point in my ministry I believe I was faced with the option of becoming corrupt and having my own way or announcing something which I felt I had a right to and letting God bless and multiply I look back on that moment and I want to tell you it was an agonizing moment I mean I felt real inner agony because I was preparing to give up the thing that mattered to me most at that particular moment so I want to tell you this is real and nobody says the cross is enjoyable but it's worth it because of what lies beyond it okay let's look at the other result and I mean we could multiply these results or we could reduce the number minutes it's a subjective matter and I don't want you to just accept what I say I want you to use your own thoughts and prayer and see does God want me to see this that's what God want to add to this is that something special God is saying to me as an individual but the second result the right the bottom the pains there is no need to prove myself right what a relief what a relief especially for preachers hmm I have a friend who's a preacher's very successful pastor in one of the cities of the Midwest and he is from a let's say it frankly is from a Southern Baptist background and we all know that really Southern Baptists have all the answers and he got he received the babson hollister moved into a new dimension but he didn't leave all his son Baptist background behind him he was very opinionated and he was often right but he offended people and then God dealt with him and a lady came to him and said what do you think about such and such a point of doctrine brother so-and-so such as such people are they right or wrong and he said I have no opinion and he commented afterwards he said that was one of the greatest reliefs I've ever had in my life I don't have to have an opinion about everything I don't have to have all the answers I don't have to be right what a relief for a preacher in 1963 I preached a very long-winded message to the congregation which I'm supposed to be pastoring explaining why there could be no more apostles in the church I only have a simple comment to make on that I could say it in three words I was wrong but thank God he gave me grace to say I was wrong otherwise I'd have been shut up for error in my own silly opinions and let's be frank there are a lot of men who shut themselves up forever they preach something wrong and they've never been willing to say I was wrong what a release when you don't have to prove yourself right let's look at just a couple of scriptures 1st Corinthians 4 verses 3 & 4 first corinthians 4 verses 3 & 4 but with me it is a very small thing that i should be judged by you or by a human court well says it really doesn't matter an awful lot to me what you think about me mm-hmm now that can be arrogant or it can be humbled but it's realistic or any human court in fact I do not even judge myself for I know nothing against myself I've got nothing on my conscience yet I'm not justified by this by the fact that I've got nothing against myself but it is the Lord who judges me let's come to that point it's the law to designs we don't have to make all the decisions we're gonna have a time gone helping us and everything going according to plan of question and answer before we close this period of teaching I want to tell you in advance it's very possible you'll answer you'll ask questions I can't answer that doesn't embarrass me the least bit I don't have to know everything I don't have to be right all the time I go back many times in my mind to my experiences train teachers in East Africa because I learned so much and I used to say to my teachers now there will come a time when a pupil in your class will ask you a question you don't know the answer don't Bluff don't try to pretend that you know say I'm sorry but I don't know but I'll find out but if you Bluff sooner or later your bluff will be exposed and people would see was talking about something you didn't know about the the school on the mission compound when I was was a long building with four classrooms end to end with mud walls between them but the mud walls didn't go up to the ceiling so there was a large gap at the top of each wall now the African picture of the teacher with authority it's one who carries a big stick and shouts well you can imagine what it's like in that kind of a building when all four teachers are shouting at once as you can hear every one of them I used to say to them listen you've got the picture wrong having authority is not carrying a big stick and shouting in fact if you have to do that it's a pretty sure sign you don't really have authority you know the secret to having authority it's being under authority once you're under authority you have authority you don't need to lift your voice we don't need that you don't need to show your strength you know that what they call the macho attitude you know what that's the product of insecurity a man if secure doesn't have to be much the people who have to shout and demonstrate themselves are insecure people when they're insecure because they aren't really under Authority let's look at one other statement of poem before we go on to the next second Timothy chapter 2 verses 2425 it's interesting I found there are certain epistles that I go to a gang in a gang in this study I found that if you take any theme and treat it seriously you'll find there are certain books in the Bible or certain authors that particular they deal with that thing if you ever deal with the team of truth what's the right that you'll go to John that's right always if you ever deal with the theme of the lung basically it'll be John and Paul and so on so it's something significant that thinking the fact that we go I think we've been to second Timothy a whole lot of times you see 2nd Timothy was his last epistle it was written in prison he was aging he had been deserted by some of his closest friends he was awaiting execution he was urging Timothy to bring the cloak before winter because he didn't have sufficient clothing to keep him warm and out of that he wrote this masterpiece to me by any literary standards 2nd Timothy is a masterpiece I mean summer Paul's writings you couldn't call them a literary masterpiece by any means and there's something about this it's the ultimate triumph of the cross where all worldly success has been stripped away and by worldly standards Paul was a failure but that's not one note of sadness or depression or defeat its total victory through one application of the cross so he says here in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 24 and 25 and the servant of the Lord must not quarrel the old King James said must not strive which I think it's so good don't put a lot of effort into proving yourself right what they're proving what you believe is right don't become what a bomb that calls one of God's little defenders God doesn't need to be defended the truth doesn't need to be defended it'll take care of itself they don't get worried about it God's in control release it I have learned in my experience if I am really trying to make people believe something I don't succeed if in a certain which I don't know whether I can explain I back off present the truth and stand aside and say Holy Spirit you did the job and the results are frightening any time that I preach are really what you'd call severe message I'm doing it against my own natural inclination I don't want to do it but I've learned that if I'm to preach that kind of message the Holy Spirit moves in and takes control and causes me to say things that frighten me I think that happened Thursday night really and I said to Ruth afterwards I had no intention to be sits on them I didn't plan that but by the grace of God up to a certain point and I know I have a lot more talent I have learned to back off and let the Holy Spirit have his way you'll find he does a much better job than we do the same in healing ministry people sometimes comment about our healing mystery you don't shout you don't get excited well I don't get excited sometimes well what's the bit of shouting it's just a waste of strength now I know there are some people when the Spirit of God comes on and they shout that's legitimate it's scriptural but there's a whole lot of fleshly sweaty effort and I'd have to say frankly amongst Pentecostals and charismatics that doesn't help the Holy Spirit the least bit in fact he's just waiting for a chance there was a time I was associate pastor of a Pentecostal church in Minneapolis of all places and my introduction to the United States was Minneapolis in February anyhow I was made responsible for the quote morning prayer meeting two mornings a week I think Tuesday and Friday I forget now we got together and we prayed from 10:00 a.m. till noon and believe me we prayed you know Pentecostals they know how to pray in a certain sense I mean we didn't rest we didn't stop we just kept telling God what he ought to be doing and after the prayer meeting was over all sorts of exciting things happened people got healed and things happened so one day I said to God I said God why is it that the the exciting things only happened when we finished praying what I understood him to say that's the first time you give me a chance to do something you see what I'm talking about it's not pushing yourself your fleshly energy let the Holy Spirit do it back off that doesn't mean you're not concerned but there's a difference between the concern the Holy Spirit gives and the concern of your own ego and it's very important I think it's only experience that can teach us the difference if I feel cast down at the end of a message which I sometimes do I have to ask myself was I trying to succeed was I trying to impress people was I trying to get people to believe what I wanted them to believe and very often that's the reason another thing I've learned for those of you might ever be preachers some of my most successful messages left me feeling of failure in fact only when you are in some sense of failure can go and become a success through you all right let's go back to 2nd Timothy 2 verse 24 the servant of the Lord must I must say strive it seems to me so exactly right but be gentle to all able to teach patient in humility correcting those who are in opposition if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth that's the attitude of the successful counselor or past don't try to prove yourself right and let me say this I say it partly because of one or two people who to whom Ruth and I administered last night it's wonderful they have principles for counseling but never trust in a system that's a snare so you can have a system for anything you can have a system for leaving people in the vamps in the Holy Spirit I mean I know what it's like I can do it and it's perfectly right to work systematically but never put your faith in a system put your faith in the Holy Spirit and sometimes you've got every move lined up a notice that says you don't need to do any of them just put your hand on them and pray for them challenge them about certain area then I thought I haven't mentioned C in counseling I'll tell you one thing that's very useful is the word of knowledge it's wonderful to have this principle by which you go back to a person's infancy and childhood and so on and it works and it produces results and anything that works I'm happy for but when Jesus dealt with the woman at the well he didn't ask her she'd been rejected in childhood or suffered in their marriages you just said you have one problem you've had five husbands and the man you're living with his not the enhancement incidentally we had a lady rather like that last night came to us and that resolved everything you understand I don't believe it's always profitable to offend a whole lot of time listening to a person's life story let me say this also to you both for yourselves and for people you minister to if people focus on their problems they live forever in their problems you have got to get them to the place where they don't look any more of their problems what do they look at the cross that's right because that's the only solution so let me say also about our attitude in these matters you can win an argument and lose a soul our aim is not to win arguments it's not to prove ourselves right our aim is to help people and whatever helps them I'm happy for

Channel: Powerful Preaching And Teaching

Views: 47,603

Rating: 4.7032642 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: TKXlfXtUdxg

Length: 94min 41sec (5681 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 22 2018